Syrien

[Shahab3]

Es wird immer suggeriert, dass die Saudis immer generell und unkritisch alles machen, was Washington will. Das ist eine sehr überhebliche und genau genommen auch riskante Vermutung (etwa für den Iran).

Dass die Saudis immer generell alles unkritisch machen, was die USA ihnen befehlen ist nicht nur eine recht riskante, sondern zunächst einmal eine unzutreffende Vermutung. Die Beziehungen zwischen diesen beiden engen Allierten, USA u. Sauds, sind sehr eng und freundschaftlich. Dabei geht es in erster Linie um gemeinsame geopolitische Schnittmengen und damit verbundene Absprachen. Aber Saudi Arabien hat am Ende seine eigenen Interessen und Hebel, ebenso wie die USA. Ich würde diesen Hebel der Sauds gegenüber den Amerikanern sogar als erheblich größer bezeichnen.

Eines sollte man nie tun: Einen potentiellen Gegner unterschaetzen, egal wie schwach er vielleicht wirkt...

Exakt. Das sollte man niemals tun. Apropos ...

Islamist rebels take Christian village
September 09, 2013 12:25 AM
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one of the few places in the world where residents still speak the ancient Middle Eastern language of Aramaic. The village is on a UNESCO list of tentative world heritage sites.
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The rebel advance into the area this week was spearheaded by the Nusra Front, exacerbating fears among Syrians and religious minorities about the role played by Islamist extremists within the rebel ranks.
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The head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel-Rahman, said Nusra backed by the Qalamon Liberation Front moved into the village after heavy clashes with the army late Saturday. He said around 1,500 rebels were inside the town.
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Aramaic-speakers attacked in Syrian village of Maaloula, near Damascus

From: AP
September 09, 2013 8:06AM
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Initially, troops loyal to President Bashar Assad moved into Maaloula early on Saturday, he said, "but they left when rebels started pouring into the village".

A Maaloula resident said the rebels, many of them sporting beards and shouting Allahu Akbar, had attacked Christian homes and churches.

"They shot and killed people. I heard gunshots and then I saw three bodies lying in the middle of a street in the old quarters of the village," said the resident, reached by telephone from neighbouring Jordan.

"So many people fled the village for safety."
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